- Featured History Subject -
The Wenonah Hotel and Wenonah Park.
The graphic depicting this month’s history subject is labeled, “Twin Wenonahs,” as the Wenonah Hotel and Wenonah Park were conceived together. Speaking of the history of the the Wenonah Hotel would be incomplete without including that of the Wenonah Park.
Bay City entered the 20th Century feeling great about its future. As the center of Michigan's lumbering boom over the previous two decades, the city growth in population and industries was staggering. Then in 1905 it doubled in size with the merger of West Bay City, making it the third largest community in the state. While lumbering had already reached it peak, the city had well established industries lead by a second generation of businessmen. Many of these companies were among the leaders in their field, and were not dependent on lumbering to survive.
It is with this background that many of these prominent businessmen rallied together to build a new hotel worthy of the city's prominence as a city on the go. The location of the old Fraser House (hotel) was considered the ideal spot (s.e. corner of Center Ave. and Water St. - now occupied by the Delta College Planitarium), but the estate holding the property was not receptive to the idea of updating or selling the property. That all changed in December 1906 when the hotel caught on fire and was completely distroyed. The headline regarding the fire in the the Bay City Tribune on December 24, 1906, read,
NOW IS THE TIME TO BEGIN THE WORK FOR NEW HOTEL.
FRASER HOUSE IS NOW A PITURESQUE RUIN.
Ruins of the Fraser House.
Alfred E. Bousfield who owned the nation's largest wooden-ware business, took the lead in advancing the new hotel proposition. He invited a group of the city's top businessmen to his home on Center Avenue for their support in forming a coalition to build a new hotel. Their vision called for not only a world class hotel, but for a new city across the street from the hotel. Their dramatic called for the reshaping one of the oldest business areas in the downtown area. Several buildings would be demolished and businesses relocated. One of those businesses was the upstart boat works of Harry Defoe, that developed into the Defoe Shipbuilding Company.
Read the following article about the history behind the Wenonah Hotel and Wenonah Park, which includes photos and links to related history pages on Bay-Journal.
Articles/ {Recalling Bay City's Wenonah Twins.}
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